Author Topic: GUI changes for v3.0  (Read 1233298 times)

Zak

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6.  I think someone else mentioned it, but it would be good if movable elements could be identified without dragging them. For example, mobile UIs have little stripey "handles" to the left of list items that can be reordered. It also gives something "tangible" to click on to drag. Now I click things to drag them and think it's also going to change the checkbox state.
can you post a screenshot so i know what you mean

On the right (sorry, it's a single image) is a playlist in the n7player app which allows playlist tracks to be reordered.
The little icon to the left of each item are what I meant by "handles".



For another example, this is from a Plex configuration web page and includes the stripey handles I was probably thinking of:



Also useful for indicating a potential move is displaying the hand cursor on mouseover, which I hadn't considered when thinking of touch UIs because they don't have a cursor. :)
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Alumni

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I can't run the test version, I followed the instructions but I get this error.
i think i know what it is and should be fixed - the updated zip is available on the same link

Ok I tried it again, still getting that error message.

psychoadept

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For another example, this is from a Plex configuration web page and includes the stripey handles I was probably thinking of:

Also useful for indicating a potential move is displaying the hand cursor on mouseover, which I hadn't considered when thinking of touch UIs because they don't have a cursor. :)

This is what I was originally thinking, too, I just had trouble describing it as well as you did.
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Steven

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hiccup

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Don' mind me too much (since I have probably messed up my system too much with several sorts of MB installations and removals), but I cannot get MB3 to work.
Only smartscreen will pop-up asking for permission, after that, nothing happens, task manager also shows nothing concerning MB.

Steven

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Don' mind me too much (since I have probably messed up my system too much with several sorts of MB installations and removals), but I cannot get MB3 to work.
Only smartscreen will pop-up asking for permission, after that, nothing happens, task manager also shows nothing concerning MB.
check to see if there is an error log file in the AppData subfolder

hiccup

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Ah, my mistake.

At the smartscreen pop-up I clicked OK. (thinking, it's OK, just run this anyway)
But I should have clicked 'more info', and then 'run anyway'.

Working now.

hiccup

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A few first impressions.
Not claiming they are thought through very well, and also not having very strong feelings on them. Just shooting some thoughts and impressions at you.

1. At first I missed the 'stop'  buttons, but I saw the clever solution that they appear when the progress bar is at the top or bottom.
2. The position of the preferences panel is not remembered, and opens top left every time.
3. The volume button is no longer horizontal and quite small, but is vertical and a bit larger (as it was in the past). I like that.
4. The 'checks' in the check-boxes don't look very refined and a bit cut-off at the left.
5. When toggling spectrum visualizations, sometimes the volume bar is not redrawn correctly:



6.

I would like to be able to select several options from the top 4 and have them visible in the panel at the same time. At this moment it is either/or?
Also I do not understand the difference between the 'dots' in front of the top 4, and the 'checks' at the two bottom options. I would assume that a dot could indicate either/or between choices, and for a check-box you could have several activated? If so, it should be the other way around here?
Also I see the sequence of the top 4 options rearranges when changed. I think I would prefer they kept their position.

6. At this moment we have a main panel, a left sidebar, and a right sidebar. That is rather easy to understand.
What I find that can be a little bit confusing that there also is a 'left main panel'. (that b.t.w. doesn't do anything in this alpha version? correct?)
Maybe it would be better to replace that with a 'sub-panel'? With the option to locate it left, right, bottom, top?
Then that might also be useful to improve on something that was often confusing to some users and was asked quite often: The 'artist information' panel that could be displayed at the bottom of the main panel, but often was not clear to users how to get it displayed.
Maybe that ' artist information' panel could then also be moved into this suggested 'sub-panel'?

Steven

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A few first impressions.
for 2, not quite sure what you mean but in general in this demo version no settings are persisted on restart. If you mean some of the dialogs always open in the top left then thats because its not implemented yet
for 6, you just untick "overlay" in the config. If you mean you want them to display as tab buttons across the header bar then thats no longer supported with this style of GUI.  Toolbar command buttons could be used as a substitute if thats what you meant
for 6/7 the left main panel is implemented and working fine - it is configured to show the thumbnail browser by default

hiccup

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A few first impressions.
for 6, you just untick "overlay" in the config. If you mean you want them to display as tab buttons across the header bar then thats no longer supported with this style of GUI.  Toolbar command buttons could be used as a substitute if thats what you meant
for 6/7 the left main panel is implemented and working fine - it is configured to show the thumbnail browser by default

The left main panel was really not opening when I had a look at it.
Just now after a restart it worked fine, but after some erratic fiddling around at one moment that panel was not refreshed correctly anymore, and showed parts from the config panel that had moved around that space a while before.
And after some more fiddling the panel did not open at all anymore.
For if it's of any use to you, a screenshot with the settings at that moment:


To be honest I am quite disappointed if the tabs at the header bar disappear. I use those very often.
When overlay is used (as a kind of substitute for tabs if I understand correctly), it will add an extra mouse-click, since you'll first have to click to reveal the options and then click the one you want.
Also switching between playing/selected track will then need two clicks, instead of 1 as it is currently.

And for more sentimental reasons, I always thought the tabs gave MusicBee a distinct and sympathetic 'look'.
Last Edit: June 10, 2015, 11:00:51 PM by hiccup

hiccup

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The left main panel was really not opening when I had a look at it.
Just now after a restart it worked fine, but after some erratic fiddling around at one moment that panel was not refreshed correctly anymore, and showed parts from the config panel that had moved around that space a while before.
And after some more fiddling the panel did not open at all anymore.

For if it's of any use to you, a screenshot with the settings at that moment:

Never mind, I shouldn't mess around with dangerous software with my eyes closed. I un-ticked both 'artist picture' and 'thumbnail browser'.
goodnight everybody.

Steven

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there are a few bugs - i havent really tested this much yet so i am not surprised. I have done an update on the same link to fix a few of the obvious ones and it now also includes the sidebar player element. Same link as before

Alumni

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I think the overall design is more uniform now, and a big improvement in user friendliness.

I do have a couple of small requests...

When scaling down the artwork view to a certain size the text is cut off abruptly, is it possible to adjust that?
I'm no-longer seeing an option to group by "sort album artist" in the artist view, I hope that will be included.
Last Edit: June 11, 2015, 06:41:18 AM by Alumni

Steven

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i have updated the demo version to include much of the updated Now Playing panel.
Included is support for 3 layouts styles:
Artist Picture, Album Color Mix, and Large Album Cover
not currently done are:
Custom Feature and Theater Mode

You can change some of the settings via the "Now Playing" selector button. In a future version there will also be a settings dialog box that will enable further fine tuning. Because you wont have any saved now playing list you should start playback from your library first.

Please feel free to comment - personally i am still not 100% happy but i feel like i have spent too much time on this. However i do think whats done is a big improvement.
Also note that the handling for pictures that are too small to fit in the panel has been changed and would be interested in feedback on that aspect.

Repost of the instructions for new readers
i have created a demo version that has some of new the functionality implemented - its intended to give you an idea of how things are being implemented and is not a fully functioning version! For example it doesnt save any updates back to the musicbee database cache, it doesnt read or write back the settings files

Instructions
- create a new folder somewhere you have write access
- unzip http://www.mediafire.com/download/zi98cfyryaijg6z/MusicBee3.zip
- you will need to either manually edit AppData/StartupSettings.ini or copy your existing StartupSettings.ini file. The important setting is <LibraryPath>\Users\Steven\Music\MusicBee\</LibraryPath> which needs to point to where your current musicbee database resides.
If the path is not set or not valid you will see a blank dialog form popup when you start MB3
- i recommend you dont update any ratings or save any tags with the tag editor as the MusicBee database is not saved so would be out of synch with what is written to the music file

Notes
- the skin and settings are hard coded but you can change some of the settings while the program is running but they wont be saved for the next restart